All prisons across Sindh are holding inmates beyond their capacity, according to details revealed in official documents and media reports.
The provincial prisons have a total capacity of 14,000 inmates, but around 27,000 prisoners are currently being held across the province.
According to the document, the number of inmates at Karachi Central Jail has also reached a record high. The prison has a capacity of 2,400 inmates, but around 8,000 prisoners are currently being held there.
Similarly, Malir Jail has a capacity of 2,200 prisoners, while around 5,500 inmates are present there.
Media reports said there are 23 prisons in Sindh, all of which are not only full but have now become overcrowded.
Hyderabad Central Jail has a capacity of 1,500 inmates, but around 3,000 prisoners are serving time there.
Larkana Central Jail was built for 650 inmates, but around 1,000 prisoners are currently being held there. The jail in Thatta was designed for 250 inmates, but the number of prisoners there has reached around 950.
The province also has three women’s prisons, located in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur. The number of women prisoners in these facilities has reached 438, of whom only 68 are convicted.
Among the 27,000 prisoners held in prisons across Sindh, the highest number, 22,600, are under-trial inmates whose cases are pending before courts. The number of convicted prisoners is only around 3,500.
There are also 459 prisoners on death row in Sindh’s prisons.
